Hitting the books

Monday

Dec 10, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Worcester’s decision to proceed with an independent, operational audit of the finances of the Worcester Public Schools is welcome and long overdue.

For taxpayers, such an audit should provide a clearer picture of not only where their dollars go, but also whether those dollars are being wisely allocated. And an audit should provide city and school officials with a common document that will reduce disagreements and avoid misunderstandings in the ongoing debate over whether Worcester is providing adequate funding for public education.

City Councilor-at-Large Michael J. Germain deserves credit for pushing for this audit beginning last March, and for pointing to the mixed feelings that many officials and taxpayers have felt regarding school funding.

In June, Mr. Germain noted, City Manager Michael V. O’Brien sat down with Superintendent of Schools Melinda J. Boone and came up with another $1.7 million for education, a plan endorsed by the City Council. Yet, less than a week later, the schools had come up with another $2 million on their own.

For Mr. Germain, that turn of events produced no clear conclusions, but raised questions that an audit could well answer. Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes had a stronger reaction, suggesting it could be a case of “gotcha accounting.”

Whatever the case, Mr. O’Brien and Ms. Boone also agreed in June on the need for an independent third party to develop a five-year projection for WPS budgets. While that may not have been the same as an operational audit, it indicated agreement that greater clarity could help.

The reality is that while WPS budget information is available to the public, it takes significant expertise to fully understand a multimillion-dollar budget. It is taxpayers who pay the bills, and most of them lack the expertise, time and patience necessary to interpret precisely how their money is being spent. But only with such understanding can they — and public officials — make informed and fair judgments as to whether Worcester is meeting its obligations to its public schools.

An operational audit isn’t likely to settle that argument, but it would be a major step forward. It can provide a single set of figures that city and school officials and the public can both understand and agree upon — even if they wind up disagreeing over how much funding the public schools should receive.